<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Breathless by 12gatsunohime (inkstainedwretch)</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26847886">Breathless</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/inkstainedwretch/pseuds/12gatsunohime'>12gatsunohime (inkstainedwretch)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Breathless [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Kuroshitsuji | Black Butler</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>M/M, soul eating</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2010-06-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2010-06-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 16:15:39</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death, Underage</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,030</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26847886</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/inkstainedwretch/pseuds/12gatsunohime</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>He tells him not to be gentle; if he'd wanted gentleness he would have accepted death when it greeted him the first time.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Sebastian Michaelis/Ciel Phantomhive</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Breathless [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1958479</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>19</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Breathless</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Originally posted to livejournal, <a href="https://12gatsunohime.livejournal.com/41355.html">here</a>.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He had asked him, once, how he would die. Not in those words, of course. He had asked how a soul was consumed, and how it tasted. Sebastian, as usual, answered without deception or hesitation. The soul could either be consumed along with the flesh, piece by piece, or drawn out through the mouth. Sebastian had said he reserved the latter method for masters he liked, because, while it was over sooner, the soul was pure and undiluted, much like sucking the nectar from a fruit.</p>
<p>In fact, souls tasted something like nectar, if the fruit flavor was replaced by the flavor of that person's life. A life of luxury had a syrupy sweet taste, hardship and want turned it sour, unresolved grudges left an aftertaste he didn't care for, and loss left a richness like the ripest fruit of the season. Pain, Sebastian had mused with a far-away look in his eyes, had an effect akin to fermentation, and he had always preferred finely aged wine to fresh grape juice.</p>
<p>
  <i>And do you eat the fruit even after the nectar has been drawn out of it?</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>Sometimes.</i>
</p>
<p>He never asked how his own soul would be taken. He didn't want to know the answer until it happened. He hadn't even given it much thought until now, with the stone bench cold and hard beneath him and a gloved hand gently caressing his face.</p>
<p>He thinks he knows the answer by now, anyway.</p>
<p>He tells him not to be gentle; if he'd wanted gentleness he would have accepted death when it greeted him the first time. So he is surprised, very surprised, when Sebastian's face leans closer to his and his eyes slip shut of their own accord.</p>
<p>"I thought I said to make it painful."</p>
<p>"I never said this way was painless."</p>
<p>It's a whisper, a dangerous one, and then lips press against lips and he braces himself--only to feel them withdraw as soon as they touch.</p>
<p>"Don't tease me."</p>
<p>"I'm not teasing you; I'm kissing you."</p>
<p>"Why?"</p>
<p>He does it again.</p>
<p>"Because I want to."</p>
<p>And again.</p>
<p>"You don't have to sit perfectly still, you know."</p>
<p>An arm wraps around him, strokes through his hair. A very small, very foolish part of him wishes Sebastian had both of his arms still. He doesn't move.</p>
<p>Sebastian kisses him again, deeper this time, opening his mouth and slipping his tongue inside. The demon's mouth is hot, hot like hellfire and sweet like death and it hits him like a gunshot that this is the last thing he'll ever feel, the sensation of Sebastian's lips and tongue and breath and teeth and <i>fuck</i> he'd be lying if he tried to tell himself it didn't feel good. For just an instant, he lets his mind go blank, lets himself be distracted long enough to forget what's happening, and before he realizes it he's wrapped his arms around Sebastian's shoulders and is kissing him with everything he has.</p>
<p>He has no idea how long his mind drifts like that; his sense of time is long gone. But soon enough, he feels a tug under the surface of his skin, like something being pulled out of him that doesn't want to be pulled. In the back of his mind, he hopes he tastes good.</p>
<p>The tug gets stronger, uncomfortable. It feels as though the skin on his fingertips and feet is being pulled off from the inside, but less painful than he had expected. By now he can't feel his legs past his knees. He wonders why his fingers haven't gone numb yet.</p>
<p>It reaches his waist, and suddenly he seizes up as Sebastian takes his tongue between his lips and sucks and white fire or red lightning or something equally horrible rockets through his front and up his back and oh god it <i>hurts</i>, it hurts like hot metal and dead parents and shame beneath the lowest level of shame and he only tightens his grip and kisses him harder because it's all he has left in the world.</p>
<p>He hasn't drawn breath since this began. Perhaps that's part of it. Dying.</p>
<p>There are two arms around him now, and he can't remember Sebastian's nails being that long before. The tug has turned into a sticky kind of ripping, like he's being pulled inside out, and the fire and lightning are still there and it hurts and he loves it. He loves the pain within him and the arms around him and the lips closed over his. He loves the demon that is slowly devouring him, drinking in his consciousness with every movement. He is the Earl Ciel Phantomhive, age thirteen, and the demon above him is Sebastian, and he hurts like he has never hurt before, and he loves it.</p>
<p>He can no longer feel his arms. The fire is contained within his head and chest and stomach, creeping upwards and gaining intensity, like a tornado in a teacup. He no longer remembers his title, or his family, or how old he is, or why he entered into this contract, but he knows he is Ciel, and the demon is Sebastian, and he hurts, and he loves it.</p>
<p>The hand in his hair moves to caress his face again. The claws scratch, but they do not break his skin. He supposes that will wait until this is done, though he can't remember what's going to happen once this is done, and now he can't feel his stomach, and the demon above him has no name, and neither does he, and his chest and head and face are burning with pain, and he loves it, though he doesn't know why.</p>
<p>And then it's just his head and neck, and the pain starts to fade a little, but he still hurts, and whoever it is that is cradling his head like that, he loves them, and he doesn't bother to wonder why.</p>
<p>So when he can no longer open his eyes, and when the only sensation left within him is in his lips, he uses the last of his strength to press and press and <i>press</i> until finally, finally, he doesn't hurt anymore.</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>